Archive for the 'Milwaukee Bucks' Tag Under 'Clippers' Category

The Clippers have sent small forward Jared Dudley to the Milwaukee Bucks in a trade bringing back veteran Carlos Delfino and big man Miroslav Raduljica. In order to get out of the final two years of Dudley's contract, the Clippers also sent Milwaukee a future first round pick.

Dudley, acquirred last summer along with J.J. Redick in a three-team trade that cost the Clippers Eric Bledsoe, struggled in his one year with the team.

Demoted from the starting lineup midway through the year and dealing with a nagging knee injury, Dudley 6.9 points on a career-worst 43.8 percent shooting.

Dudley was due $9 million over the next two seasons.

Delfino, a 6-foot-6 wing, missed all of last season following surgery on his right foot. He's still trying to recover from the injury and isn't expected to be ready once the season begins.

Even with the coach and the star point guard in the fold, the Clippers’ offseason still wasn’t close to being over.

Other changes had to be made, and those changes included a major shakeup in the team’s regular rotation. Before the official start of free agency, the Clippers cooked up a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns that would drastically alter the team.

The first major move shored up a big need on the perimeter and created a question about the team’s bench.

The narrative surrounding the Clippers through the first two weeks of the NBA season has been all about the team's ability to score points and its inability to keep their opponents from doing it.

But Saturday night against the depleted Milwaukee Bucks, the Clippers found themselves in unchartered territory. Struggling to put the ball in the basket for most of the night, the team had to rely on its defense to pick up the slack in a 92-86 win.

The Clippers (4-2) held Milwaukee (2-5) to just 36.3 percent shooting in the win.

Key stops at the rim by Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan down the stretch in the fourth quarter helped seal the win.

Blake Griffin gave a sleepy Staples Center crowd an emphatic wake-up in the third quarter, slamming home two monster dunks over Milwaukee's Ersan Ilyasova. Griffin also caught a lob from Chris Paul, as the team finally got out into the open court.

Caron Butler scored 14 points in the third quarter, giving him a game-high 20. Griffin has 18 points and nine rebounds.

The Clippers lead the Bucks by three after an ugly first quarter that saw the Bucks start 2-for-13 from the field. And despite holding 15-12 edge in rebounding -- thanks largely to Reggie Evans' four rebounds -- the Clippers have turned the ball over six times.